Support the families of those who paid for the truth with their freedom
26.08.2025
Hello!
This is Ksenia Fadeeva from the Marathon of solidarity with political prisoners “You are not alone”.
Summer is coming to an end. In a few days Russian schoolchildren will be back at their desks.
Every family probably has its own traditions for 1 September, the first day of school. But for some children this day is painted in dark colours. Imagine: you come back from the holidays and see your classmates being brought to school by their parents. The kid at the next desk is breathlessly telling everyone how they went to the seaside with mum and dad. A friend is boasting that her dad taught her to drive over the summer, and her mum taught her to weave dandelion crowns.
You had none of that, because one of your parents is in prison for speaking out against the war and the authorities. And your other parent has no time for seaside holidays and dandelion crowns, because they have to work endlessly just to feed the family and get you ready for school.
We believe that a child with a parent in prison should be able to look as good as their peers, have decent school supplies, keep going to sports clubs and, if needed, have tutoring to get into university.
Hello! The 17 thousand has arrived. Thank you for your help 🙏 Now I’ll be able to get my child ready for school.
Political prisoners’ families sometimes have to make hard choices: help their loved one behind bars, pay for their child’s sports club, buy them a new school uniform, or support elderly parents.
You often hear a prisoner’s spouse or parents say not “my husband / wife / child is in prison” but “we are in prison”. Because when someone close to you ends up behind bars, your normal life more or less ends too.
Many of the requests the Marathon received this summer came from families with children. To help them, we’re asking you to make a donation. This year, on 12 June, the Marathon raised less money than last year, while we received a great many requests.
Unfortunately, we can’t make all the innocent people free right now, so that children can be with their mums and dads again. But we can support political prisoners’ families through this hard time and help them get through the separation.
Let’s make sure political prisoners’ families know they are not alone.
Kind regards,
Ksenia Fadeeva